When Are PA State Taxes Due? Filing, Estimates, and Penalties

Pennsylvania state taxes are due Wednesday, April 15, 2026, for income earned during the 2025 tax year. That deadline applies to both filing your PA-40 personal income tax return and paying any tax you owe at the state’s flat 3.07 percent rate.¹² The Department of Revenue follows the federal calendar, so Pennsylvania’s annual deadline tracks the IRS date. If you make quarterly estimated payments or owe local earned income tax, you have additional deadlines spread across the year.

Who Has to File by April 15

You have to file a PA-40 if you received more than $33 in total gross taxable income during the tax year. This applies to Pennsylvania residents and to nonresidents who earned income within the state.¹ You still need to file even when you expect to owe nothing. That includes situations where your income qualifies for the state’s Tax Forgiveness credit, and where you want a refund of taxes over-withheld from your paychecks.

What “Due by April 15” Actually Covers

Two things come due on April 15: the return itself and payment of any balance owed. These are separate obligations. You can request more time to file the paperwork, but the payment deadline does not move.¹

If you need more time to complete the return, the Department of Revenue grants extensions of up to six months, pushing your filing deadline to October 15.³ You can get one two ways:

If the IRS has already granted you a federal extension, Pennsylvania automatically honors it. No separate state form is required, but you still have to pay any estimated state tax owed by April 15.
If you did not file for a federal extension, submit Form REV-276 to the Department of Revenue before April 15. You can file it electronically through the myPATH portal or mail it to the Bureau of Individual Taxes at PO Box 280504, Harrisburg, PA 17128-0504.³

An extension buys you time on the paperwork only. If you owe tax and do not pay by April 15, interest and penalties start accruing on the unpaid balance even with a valid extension in hand.

Quarterly Estimated Payment Dates

If you earn income that is not subject to employer withholding — self-employment earnings, interest, dividends, rental income, and the like — April 15 is only one of four payment dates you need to track. For the 2026 tax year, estimated payments are required if you expect to owe at least $430 in state tax after subtracting withholding and credits, which works out to roughly $14,000 or more in non-withheld income.⁴

The four quarterly due dates for 2026 estimated payments are:

April 15, 2026, covering income earned January through March
June 15, 2026, covering April and May
September 15, 2026, covering June through August
January 15, 2027, covering September through December

Fall short on estimated payments and the Department may charge an interest-based penalty on the underpayment for each day it remains unpaid, running up through the filing deadline for your annual return.⁴ You can avoid that penalty by meeting one of two safe harbors: total estimated payments and withholding equal to at least 90 percent of the current year’s tax, or at least 100 percent of the prior year’s tax liability (prior year taxable income multiplied by 3.07 percent).⁵ If your income arrives unevenly through the year, you can base each quarterly payment on what you actually received that quarter rather than paying equal installments.

Local Earned Income Tax Is Also Due April 15

Nearly every Pennsylvania resident owes a local earned income tax (EIT) to their municipality and school district on top of the state return. The local return is filed with your local tax collection agency, not the Department of Revenue, and it is also due April 15. Penalties and interest begin accruing after that date on any unpaid local balance.⁶

Rates vary by municipality, typically ranging from about 0.5 percent to over 3 percent depending on where you live and work. You can find your local tax collector through the list maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.⁷ One boundary worth noting: Philadelphia operates its own wage tax system and is not part of the statewide collection framework, so Philadelphia residents deal with the Philadelphia Department of Revenue directly.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Pennsylvania imposes separate penalties for filing late and for paying late. Both can apply at the same time if you miss the deadline entirely.

Late Filing Penalty

If you file after April 15 or after your extended due date, the penalty is 5 percent of the unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is late, up to a maximum of 25 percent. The minimum penalty is $5, even if you owe little or no tax.⁸

Late Payment Penalty

If you file on time but do not pay the full amount owed, a flat 5 percent underpayment penalty is added to the unpaid balance.⁹ File late and fail to pay, and the Department stacks the late-filing penalty on top of the underpayment penalty.

Interest

On top of either penalty, the Department charges simple interest daily on unpaid tax from the original due date until the balance is paid in full.⁹

If You Can’t Pay by April 15

File on time and pay as much as you can. That keeps the late-filing penalty off the table and reduces what interest and the underpayment penalty are calculated on. After April 15, you can set up an installment agreement with the Department of Revenue; current-year payment plans cannot be arranged until the due date has passed.¹⁰

If your balance is under $50,000 and you can pay it off within 12 months, you can set up a standard plan through the myPATH portal. All previous returns have to be filed before the Department will approve it.
If your balance exceeds $50,000, you need more than 12 months, or you already have a payment plan in place, you have to contact the Department directly and submit a REV-488 Statement of Financial Condition.¹⁰

The Department’s free myPATH portal lets you file your PA-40, request an extension, make a payment from a bank account, and set up a qualifying installment plan in one place.¹¹

1
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. 2025 Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Return Instructions (PA-40 IN)
2
Department of Revenue. Tax Rates
3
Department of Revenue. Extension of Time to File
4
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. 2026 Instructions for Estimating PA Personal Income Tax (REV-413)
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Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. 2024 Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals (REV-1630)
6
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Taxpayer Annual Local Earned Income Tax Return Instructions
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Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Local Income Tax Collector
8
Cornell Law School. 61 Pa. Code 121.26 – Penalties for Failure to File or for Filing a Late Return
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Department of Revenue. Income Subject to Tax Withholding; Estimated Payments; Penalties, Interest and Other Additions
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Department of Revenue. Personal Income Tax Payment Plans
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Department of Revenue. myPATH